Dear friends and neighbors…
In this What Happens After Death? presentation, it is our sincerest desire that you will be greatly comforted, especially now during these troubling times. Feel free at any time to E-mail any questions you may have, or to contribute any thoughts and input. We will always get back to you on a personal one-to-one basis, so as to maintain confidentiality and your privacy. None of your personal information will be shared with anyone else; we will honor and respect confidentiality in all matters.
The question I want to address before you…the most consequential question that could ever be posed and every human being must answer: WHY DO I EXIST? Your personal answer to that question depends upon your opinion concerning…
- Is there is a God?
- What happens after death?
- Is there any purpose for my life?
There are many different opinions concerning the answers to these most pressing questions regarding our existence. But before we continue further…
There are 3 indisputable facts concerning everyone who is reading this presentation that are absolutely true…that no one would dispute, or question, or disagree with, or have a different opinion about. Everyone across the globe would agree with these 3 facts…and everyone, everywhere, would agree with these 3 facts without question:
- I am alive; I exist; I have a pulse; I am living and I am breathing; I am not dead.
- Death is a certainty; my body is going to physically die and end up in a grave.
- I do not know when I am going to die. I do not know how much time remains until the death of my body…whether tomorrow, or another week, a month, a year, a decade or multiple decades. This is true no matter what my age is right now…even if I am just a child. Your real age is how much time you have from this moment until the death of your body. A child who is going to die tomorrow or a year from now is much older than a 70 year old who is going to live another decade. So no one really knows their true age.
My brother, 36 years old and just married one year, on July 14, 1991 did not know when he had only 10 seconds left to live in his life. He was driving home from work, 5 PM on a late Sunday afternoon, and was broadsided by a drunk driver coming the opposite direction; dead on arrival.
Faye Swetlick, just a sweet 6 year old little girl, got off her school bus on Feb. 10th, 2021, at her home…playing in her front yard and didn’t know that she had only an hour left in her life to live.
The single most important question I am faced with in life is, “What happens after death?” There are only 2 possible answers:
- I cease to exist; I no longer exist; I pass into oblivion, never again to be.
- My existence continues; it does not end. I continue to exist…forever.
Everyone has an opinion as to what happens after death…although there are some who have never considered this question, and may well answer, “I don’t know.” But even these would probably hazard some sort of a guess if asked…whatever would come to their mind at that moment.
For the sake of discussion…to choose a number…there are 100 different opinions in answer to this question. Some would have the opinion that existence ends and I am no more. That would be 1 of the 100 different opinions. All others who then have the overall opinion that my existence does not end but continues on…would have 99 differing opinions as to where I would be in my continuing existence, and in what form would I exist.
- Some would hold differing opinions, but all based on reincarnation…that I would come back into this physical realm in the form of another living being. Depending upon the benevolent quality of my current life, I may come back as an influential leader, an animal, a bird or a fish, a reptile or an insect, or even a plant. And that process would continually repeat at the end of each new life cycle, over and over again.
- Some would hold differing opinions, but all based on a continued existence in the spirit realm…as angels, or free wandering spirits.
- Some hold opinions that everyone would exist in a wonderful and joyous place… such as a “Happy Hunting Grounds” or “Heaven.”
- Some hold the opinion of eternal existence in 1 of 2 places…either Heaven or Hell. In all of these opinions that embrace eternal existence in either Heaven or Hell…with the exception of one…my eternal destiny is dependent on merit. The opinion of the one exception is not dependency on merit, but rather on exercising my right to choose to accept the free gift of eternal life in Heaven offered to everyone.
There are 100 different opinions as to what happens after death, but only 1 of these opinions, at best, can be correct…the actual, factual, truth of what really does take place after death. The problem…and the reason why there are 100 different opinions…is that no one can prove with factual evidence that their opinion is the correct one. You can’t prove to me that your opinion is correct, and I can’t prove to you that my opinion is correct. There are only opinions, and no one can offer undeniable proof of the factual truth of their opinion. If someone could offer undeniable proof as to what happens after death, then it would no longer be an opinion but would become an indisputable fact.
People are afraid to think about, to talk about, what happens after death. They don’t want to have to consider it, to deal with it. Ignoring the question, though, does not change the reality of death and what actually does happen after death. All it does is keep you from answering life’s most important question, and coming to an informed conclusion and comfortable opinion about it. Death, of course, seals your fate. Whatever is the actual reality of what lies on the other side of life as you enter death…at that point is unalterable, unchangeable, irreversible.
That being the case, there are 2 overriding questions everyone needs to consider concerning life’s single most important question, “What happens after death?”…
- What is the source for your opinion; on what are you basing your opinion? Is your opinion your “gut feeling?” Is it based on supporting written documentation underlying all that its teaching embraces? How authoritative and reliable is the source…the author of what you believe…that you are willing to stake your eternal future existence on it?
- What are the consequences to you if your opinion is wrong, and someone else’s opinion is the right one? If the actual reality is that you will exist forever…for all eternity, then all that really matters while you are still alive is where you will be living hereafter…in what neighborhood, and in what form. The length of time you live now in the physical realm on the face of this Earth becomes completely meaningless in the light of an eternal existence. What is 30, 70, or 100 years of life in this physical body which most assuredly will die…a mere blip on the screen of eternity? Just to give some perspective to this consequence, when you consider the incomprehensible reality that just one second on eternity’s clock can be likened to a million years of Earthly time…what do you stand to lose if your opinion is wrong? The stakes are staggering, beyond imagination!
The single most important question I am faced with in life is, “What happens after death?” The second most important question I am faced with in life is, “WHY DO I EXIST?”
I exist…Because there is an Eternal God Who exists. In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. The Heavens continually declare the magnificent majesty and Glory of God; their measureless expanse continually displays the awesome wisdom and power of His handiwork. Day after day their silent speech is heard unceasingly throughout the farthest reaches of the Earth; night after night they unveil the fathomless knowledge of the Almighty.
Are you familiar with Mt. Rushmore…where the faces of 4 of our Presidents were sculptured into the mountain rock…high up, at the peak? Incredible! Imagine you were standing there at an observation point below, admiring the intricate detail of this work of art. After a short while, another person…a stranger…comes along and stands nearby, also admiring the work. He turns to you, and remarks, “Isn’t this absolutely astonishing… how millions of years of ice and snow, wind and rain, could etch out such wonderful and intricate carvings in the rock! And look!…no mistakes; perfect!” You would wonder about this person’s perception of reality, would you not? It is kind of obvious that this work was not a random occurrence, an accidental happening, an incidental incidence. It has design, and purpose, and flawless intricate detail…the work of a skilled craftsman!
That brings us to the third most important question: IS THERE A GOD?
Ever since God created the world, His invisible qualities…both His Eternal Power and His Divine Nature…have been clearly seen. They are perceived and understood in the majesty and Glory of God’s breathtaking Creation handiwork! So those people who do not believe there is a God have no excuse at all for their blind unbelief.
The Universe is incomprehensible in its intricate design, perfect order, and incredible vastness! Objects in the Universe are measured in distances of light years…how far light travels in a 1 year period of time. Light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second, and so in 1 year light will have traveled 5.9 trillion miles! 1 light year = 5.9 trillion miles! There are stars in our Universe that are millions of light years distant from us! Unfathomable! No…the Universe is no more a random occurrence, an accidental happening, or an incidental incidence than are the carvings sculptured into the mountain rock of Mt. Rushmore!
The framework for understanding our existence begins with fully embracing in my heart why the Eternal God of the universe Personally formed me in my mother’s womb. It is so simple a child can understand it; yet it is so simple that only a child can fully embrace it: Anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
Adults tend to make things complicated, and so oftentimes they end up confusing themselves. The truth is that there are just 5 foundational principles underlying human existence…5 principles determined and ordained by God that are the framework for human existence. If you know and understand these 5 principles, you will understand…
- WHY I EXIST
- WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH
- WHAT THE PURPOSE IS FOR MY LIFE
God’s framework in creating Mankind:
- ETERNAL REASON for my existence: Love.
- ETERNAL PURPOSE for my existence: Relationship.
- ETERNAL PLAN for my existence: I know the plans I have for you.
- ETERNAL PROMISE for my existence: A promised rest.
- ETERNAL PROVISION for my existence:
Gift of My Son
Gift of My Holy Spirit
1. God’s ETERNAL REASON for my existence is Love. I have loved you with an everlasting Love.
In every belief system…if there is a god or multiple gods, Love is not their overriding, predominant characteristic. Except one. In the belief system that is based on the Bible, the Eternal Being presented as God is characterized by His Supreme and preeminent Eternal Attribute: Love. God is Love. Love is the defining characteristic of God. Love is His very nature, Love is His very essence, Love is the very core of His Being. If you remember nothing else from this Presentation, never forget this: GOD LOVES YOU.
God’s Love 4 U is…
Unconditional
Unfailing
Unchanging
Unending
I have loved you with an everlasting Love. I knew you by name, in eternity past, before I created the world. I knew every thought you would ever think, I heard every word you would ever speak, I saw everything you would ever do. I considered all these things, and then, with full knowledge of all you would ever think or say or do, I consciously and deliberately chose to love you. It was because I loved you that I brought you into existence. My Eternal Reason for creating you is that I love you; the desire of My heart was to bring you into existence. I made you for Myself, in My Own image and My Own likeness. The most intense desire of My heart was to pour all of My Blessedness and all of My Goodness into you, to have intimate fellowship with you, and to become ever more one with you…even as We are One with One Another in our Blessed Holy Trinity!
My love for you is unconditional…there are no conditions on My love for you. I love you because of Who I am, not because of who you are…or what you do, or what you refrain from doing. My love for you is not a response to anything in you; I initiate my love toward you. God is Love; I am Love. Love is My very nature, Love is My very essence, Love is the very core of My Being, and I love you because of Who I am. My love for you is completely outside of your sphere of influence. You have no influence over My love for you, no impact on My love for you. Just as time, as an illustration of what I am speaking about, ticks relentlessly by, completely undaunted by anything you can possibly do to hinder its unceasing march, so My love flows unceasingly toward you, undaunted by anything you could possibly think, or say, or do to hinder it. Though you may trample over and smash every clock in existence, you have had no effect on time itself, having trampled only the measure of time. Though you may trample every expression of My love toward you, you have had no effect on My love, having trampled only the measure of My infinite love for you.
There is nothing you can do to cause Me to love you more; My love for you is already infinite. There is nothing you can do that would cause Me to love you less… because I already knew, in eternity past, everything you would ever think or say or do. Nothing you have ever done, or will ever do, is a surprise to me, or something I didn’t already know. No matter for how long, how many, many years you have sinned against Me; no matter how often, how very often; no matter how deeply, how very deeply; I already had full knowledge of these things in eternity past, considered them, and consciously and deliberately, with full knowledge of all you would ever think or say or do, consciously chose to love you.
My love for you is unfailing; it will never fail. You may fail Me; often do. But I will never fail you; I abide faithful! My love for you is unchanging. At this moment in time…after all your years of sins and failures, mistakes and imperfections…I love you the same today, right now, as I did on the day you were born, when you were so pure, so innocent, and so helpless. My love for you has never changed; it is the same…yesterday, today, and forever. And I love you with an unending love…eternal and everlasting.
My love for you will never perish or spoil or fade.
Beloved…Have you not known? Have you never understood? I have loved you with an everlasting love: I knew you by name, in eternity past, before I created the world, and…
My Love 4 U is…
Unconditional;
Unfailing;
Unchanging;
Unending. It will never perish or spoil or fade.
If only you would know in the depths of your soul, if only you would just fully embrace, the greatness of My love I have lavished upon you…that the most intense desire of My heart is to gather you to Myself as one of My Own children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. That is the depth of My love for you.
The 1st of God’s 5 foundational principles that form the framework for human existence is: 1. ETERNAL REASON for my existence: Love. If you remember nothing else from this Presentation, never forget this: GOD LOVES YOU.
God’s Love 4 U is…
Unconditional
Unfailing
Unchanging
Unending
Next is the 2nd of God’s 5 foundational principles that form the framework for human existence.
2. ETERNAL PURPOSE: Relationship. I made you for Myself…in My Own image and likeness…Divinely crafted with the capabilities and capacity to be joined together with the Triune God in a Sacred Covenant relationship…a living union of oneness…the very crown jewels of My Creation, and that, as a mirror of the Almighty, you would reflect My Glory to the created universe.
It was because I loved you that I brought you into existence. My Eternal Reason for creating you is that I love you; the desire of My heart was to bring you into existence. My Eternal Purpose for creating you is: I made you for Myself, in My Own image and My Own likeness. The most intense desire of My heart was to pour all of My Blessedness and all of My Goodness into you, to have intimate fellowship with you, and to become ever more one with you…even as We are One with One Another in our Blessed Holy Trinity!
God created you for deep and intimate personal relationship with Himself… to be joined together with the Triune God in a Sacred Covenant relationship. There is only one [1] God, but the Godhead is Triune in nature…a Holy Trinity. Triune and Trinity…which means 3…refers to the 3 Persons within the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are 3 distinct and separate Persons within the Godhead that is the one [1] God. For a visual picture of what this looks like, the Godhead can be likened to an Earthly family. The family is one [1] entity…but within the family there are distinct and separate persons…father, mother, child[ren]. All of them together, though, are still just one [1] family.
Our Sacred Covenant relationship with the Triune God is a relationship with each one of the Persons of the Godhead, in the unique role that each has in that Blessed Holy Trinity:
- God the Father is my Father; I am His child. We have a Father/child relationship.
- God the Son…Christ Jesus…is my Husband; I am His spiritual bride…the bride of Christ. We have a spiritual Husband/wife relationship.
- God the Holy Spirit is my Master; I am His servant. We have a Master/servant relationship.
Human beings are the crown jewels of God’s Creation. We were created with capabilities, capacities, and faculties that no other living being possesses; You have made Mankind only a little lower than the angels, and placed a crown of glory and honor upon his head. You have put him in charge of every living thing You made; everything is put under his authority.
In our high status as God’s crown jewels of Creation, it was God’s intention that each of us would be a mirror of the Almighty, reflecting His Glory to the created universe. Whenever the Created universe comes into contact with me, they are to see something of Who God is reflected in me; they are to encounter something of God’s character and nature in me.
Moving on to the 3rd of God’s 5 foundational principles that form the framework for human existence…
3. ETERNAL PLAN: I know the plans I have for you; you are My workmanship, created in Christ Jesus My Son to do the good works I have planned in advance for you to do. Every day of your life was recorded in My Book before you were born…before you ever began to breathe.
God has eternal plans for your life…absolutely, and very specific. He determined and formulated plans for you in eternity past…an Eternal Plan for your life in the physical realm, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. And He has prepared a body for you suitable to be engaged in those plans and to fulfill those purposes. He Personally knit you together in your mother’s womb with the necessary capabilities, capacities, and faculties to do the work He had ordained for you. You were custom made, tailor made! And then He gave you a specific allotment of time for your life in the physical realm…an allotment of time known only by Him that you would need to carry out His work and His will ordained for you. He Himself has determined the day and the hour of your physical death here on Earth…and no one, nor any circumstance, event, or thing, can override it. Every day of your life was recorded in His book before you were born…before you ever began to breathe!
Yet, you can’t even begin to be part of God’s Eternal Framework for Mankind’s existence, including His plans for you, until you become one of His children in the Family of God. Until then, you will just be floundering through life, with no meaning or purpose.
Moving on to the 4th of God’s 5 foundational principles that form the framework for human existence…
4. ETERNAL PROMISE: I have prepared a promised rest for My children. No matter what storms of life may be raging…a fierce tempest, whipping the waves into a tumultuous, churning, turmoil…beneath the surface, in the depths of God, all is peaceful and calm, all is tranquil and unruffled. In the shadow of the Almighty, you will find an unruffled child-like rest for your soul.
We were all born into this world, but we are not one of God’s children by virtue of our physical birth. We were all brought into existence by God, and are therefore His Creation. But I don’t become His child unless, and until, I am specifically and Personally adopted into His Family and thereby become one of His children. We will be addressing how to exercise your God-given right to become a child of God further along in this Presentation…a right given by God to every human being.
Are you sorely troubled and vexed by various pressures, trials and afflictions that worry and weary a human soul? Deep sadness and sorrow, intense crying and pain, overwhelming grief, loneliness, broken heartedness? Physical infirmities…physical disorders, diseases, and illnesses? Broken and strained relationships…between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters and family members; between friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters in the Family of God? Bondage to addictions and habits…addictions to pornography, drugs, alcohol, gambling; addictions to food, tobacco, television, spending; addictions to video games, Internet, social media? Various other bondages…financial, emotional, social, or spiritual? Depression, discouragement, disappointment, disheartened, disillusioned? Downcast, downtrodden, distraught, dismayed, distressed? Discord, disharmony, disunity, dissension and division? No matter how fierce the storms of life, God has prepared a promised rest for His children…peace in the midst of the storm, here and now, as well as for all eternity in Heaven!
Moving on now to the 5th and last of God’s 5 foundational principles that form the framework for human existence…
5. ETERNAL PROVISION:
Gift of My Son. I purchased you, by Myself and for Myself, with the Precious and Priceless Blood of My Divine Son Jesus. By virtue of the Eternal Power and the Eternal Worth of His Blood, poured out on your behalf on that cross at Calvary, I have forgiven all the sins of those who will receive Him and believe in His Name. Christ My Son has thereby conferred upon those the judicial status of eternal righteousness in My sight.
By virtue of the Eternal Power and the Eternal Worth of the Blood of My Divine Son Jesus, poured out on your behalf on that cross at Calvary for the forgiveness of your sins and failures, your mistakes and imperfections… past, present, and future…I have forgiven you of all you have ever done, and have blotted out the entire record of transgressions proven against you. I have erased the entire record of your sins, expunged all of your sins entirely from My Book of Life. I have removed your sins from you as far as the East is from the West, and cast all of your sins into the depths of the sea, never to remember them against you again. There is nothing written against your name in My Book…just as if you have never sinned. And I have conferred upon you the judicial status of eternal righteousness before Me; you are dressed in the white robes of Christ My Son’s Own Righteousness, pure and holy now in My sight without spot or wrinkle or blemish. Though I am overwhelmed by my sins, You forgive them all. Blessed, and filled with joy, are those whom You choose, whom You bring to live in Your Heavenly Sanctuary! I shall forever be satisfied with the good things of Your house, the eternal blessings of Your sacred Temple! My soul shall forever be satisfied, Father…as with the richest of foods! I feast on the abundance of Your House; You give me drink from Your river of delights!
The Blood of Your Divine Son Jesus envelops my soul…encases my soul…as an impenetrable shield; sin can never again stain my soul. The Blood of Your Divine Son Jesus has conferred upon me the judicial status of eternal righteousness before You, Father…forever pure and holy in Your sight, without spot or wrinkle or blemish. And although my outer garments often become soiled with sin as I live out my everyday life, I can continually come before You to acknowledge and confess my sins and failures. You are faithful and just to forgive me for my sins, and You are faithful and just to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. You wash anew my garments that have been soiled with sin in the Blood of Your Divine Son Jesus, and make them clean again, dazzling and white. And You wash my feet with pure water… You wash the dust of sin off my feet, enabling me to stand before You in the Holy of Holies, in the inaccessible light of the Glory of Your unclouded Presence. This is my birthright…by virtue of being adopted into Your Family as a child of the Most High God!
The Gift of My Holy Spirit, given to dwell in you…never to leave you, never forsake you…to be the Divine Nature abiding in you Whose Power continually guarantees and secures your capability to live your everyday life: faithful to your solemn marriage vows as the spiritual bride of Christ My Son; faithfully within the Holy of Holies and My unclouded Presence in our Sacred Covenant relationship.
If you remember nothing else from this What Happens After Death? Presentation, never forget this: GOD LOVES YOU.
God’s Love 4 U is…
Unconditional
Unfailing
Unchanging
Unending
In this concluding portion of our Presentation, we will begin with answering the question: Since the Eternal Purpose for my existence is to be joined together with the Triune God in a Sacred Covenant relationship, how do I enter into this relationship?
Jesus answered that question in His response to Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council: I tell you the truth, unless one is born again, he cannot be in God’s Kingdom.
How can a grown man be born again, Nicodemus asked? He certainly cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time!
Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, no one can ever enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at My saying You must be born again.
Every one of us here came into existence in the physical realm by birth. My physical human life began at conception…at that moment of fertilization, at which time I was conceived from my father’s male human seed planted in my mother’s womb and fertilized through union with her female ovum. At that point in time, a new, genetically unique cell, a genetically distinct living organism…a new human being…came into existence. Then the process of growth began. God the Father formed all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. In the fullness of time, I was brought forth from my mother’s womb and born into the physical realm…a newborn baby! This is what God has said in His written Word: I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I chose you and set you apart for My Own purposes. I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you…plans to give you a hope and a future.
My spiritual life also began at conception. The Divine seed of God the Father…the Word of God recorded in Scripture…has within itself the capacity to start a new life. When it is planted in the heart of a human being, it has the potential to bring a new life into existence. God’s Divine seed in itself, however, lies dormant; it cannot bring forth a new life on its own. Fertilization must take place within my heart through the consent of my will. I give the consent of my will when I make a solemn vow before God in giving myself to be the bride of Christ, receiving Jesus the Christ into my life in a spiritual marriage, promising to honor and obey Him as both Lord over my life and Savior of my soul. The consent of my will takes place by my making a solemn vow before God. That is the moment when fertilization takes place, at which time a new life is both conceived and born in me through the Power of the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit will sweep over you and the Power of the Most High will overshadow you.
A distinct and uniquely new life comes into existence. I am born again, this time into the spiritual realm…born into the Family of God in the Kingdom of God. I am now a child belonging to the Royal Family of God, through the new life conceived in me by the Holy Spirit! I became a child of God by birth! God Himself is therefore my Father, and I bear His spiritual DNA in my soul! I am literally a new creation…not in the physical realm, where I already exist…but in the spiritual realm, where prior to this I did not exist.
My spiritual birth is not a mental or a theological concept; it is as literal and real a new birth as was my physical birth. A person is born into physical life through human parents, but is born into spiritual life in the Kingdom of God through Divine parents…by God the Father through the Power of the Holy Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Jesus has clearly stated, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. The only way to the Father is through Me. There are not many ways to God; Jesus stated clearly that He is the only way. There is no way to enter into a relationship with the Triune God other than through God the Son, Christ Jesus…at that moment in time when I make a solemn vow before God in giving myself to be the bride of Christ. That is the moment when fertilization takes place, at which time a distinct and uniquely new life comes into existence. I am literally born again…born into the spiritual realm, where prior to this I did not exist! I have became a child of God by birth!
OK, I understand now how to enter into God’s Eternal Purpose for my existence… but does that have any bearing on, or answer the question concerning, WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH?
Jesus said to Martha, I Myself am the Resurrection and the Life. Anyone who lives their life believing in Me, though dying a physical death like everyone else, will never actually die at all but will rise to an eternal life together with Me in Heaven. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, Martha replied, I do believe that You are Christ the Messiah, the Son of God, Whom God promised was to come into the world, fulfilling Your promised coming the world has long awaited.
The man…Jesus the Christ…claimed to be God Himself in the flesh, both fully human and fully Divine. Jesus did not mince any words…He proclaimed clearly and beyond the shadow of any doubt that He was, in fact, God. The religious leaders understood clearly that Jesus claimed to be God, and in their refusal to believe Him, were determined to kill Him for what they considered to be blasphemy, “because You, a mere man, claim to be God.” They eventually were able to carry out their determined purpose by having the Roman authorities crucify Him.
Is there any credibility to Jesus’ claim to be God in the flesh other than what is written in the Bible?
- Resurrection of Jesus is a recorded historical fact attested to by secular writers during that time period.
- Disciples were eye witnesses, willing to be martyred for what they saw with their own eyes and therefore knew to be true.
- Miracles of Jesus are recorded historical facts attested to by secular writers during that time period. [Josephus, etc].
- Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave after he had been dead for 4 days.
- Jesus Himself walked out of the grave after having been dead for 3 days.
Here is the one Supreme, preeminent claim that separates the belief system based on the Bible from every other…all 99 other belief systems. No other belief system embraces a human being claiming to also be God Himself in the flesh. Either Jesus is indeed God, Who He claimed to be, or He is not God.
If Jesus was indeed God in human flesh, both fully human and fully Divine, then all that the Bible teaches is the Truth and without any error, because the Bible claims to be the Word of God, and Jesus Himself claims to be the Living Word of God. If Jesus was not God…then the Bible is no different than the writings of the other 99 belief systems, and all bets are off. Take your pick…because no one, then, knows the actual Truth.
It comes down to this: What is the most important question to answer while you are still alive? Was Jesus the Christ the Divine Son of God? What is your opinion?
If yes…then the Bible is the one and only belief system that truthfully reveals the reality of death and what actually does happen after death.
If no…then take your pick; any of the 100 is just as good a guess as the others.
The only difference between you and I is…
you have an opinion that you do not know whether it is true,
and I have an opinion that I know is true, because I have personally experienced its truth.
You have an opinion about Jesus based on what you have heard or read about Him; I have an opinion about Jesus based on what I have personally experienced of Him. You know about Jesus like you would know about George Washington; I know Him personally. I know Him because I have personally experienced His Presence and His Power. I have seen Jesus with my own spiritual eyes, and have heard Him with my own spiritual ears…and I can testify to His great Name and mighty Power.
You also will personally experience Jesus and come to know Him as a Person once you are born-again…a second time…by the Spirit of God into the spiritual realm. Until then, you can only know about Him through what you read…like you would know about George Washington by reading history books and biographies. You can never get to know a person…any person…unless you spend time alone together with them. Apart from that, all your reading and studying only gives you more information about them. An historian can be an expert on George Washington, but can never know George Washington through the personal experience of walking with him and talking with him, of living with him and doing things together with him as part of his family, or as a very close friend. I can never experience George Washington as a person, never experience what he is like through personal contact with him. He is no longer living, that I can be with him in a deep and intimate personal relationship. I can only know about him in my mind, my intellect.
But our relationship, Lord Jesus, is very deep, very intimate, very personal. Your Holy Spirit does not reveal to me Who You are only by showing me what the Scriptures have to say about You, and illuminating my understanding of You as revealed in Scripture. He doesn’t only just broaden and deepen my knowledge about You, and Who You are, and what You have done…like an historian would do. He doesn’t only just give me more information about God…so I can know more and more about You like I can know more and more about George Washington by reading and study. No…I know You through my personal experience of You as the bride of Christ in our Sacred Covenant relationship. I can walk with You and talk with You; I can meet together with You and commune with You. I can spend time alone together with You, just You and I, whenever I want. Our relationship is very personal, very intimate. There is an Eternal difference between knowing You through personally experiencing You, and only just knowing about You through reading and study.
I proclaim to you Christ Jesus…the One Who existed from the beginning, from Eternity Past, Whom I have heard with the ears of my own inner being, and have seen with my own spiritual eyes. I have gazed upon Him and have spiritually touched Him with my own hands. He is the Word of Life. His Life is continually being revealed to me; I have seen it and testify to it, and I proclaim to you that He is the One Who is Eternal Life. He always existed with the Father, and is now continually being manifested afresh and anew to me. I proclaim to you what I have personally seen and heard in the depths of my soul, so that you also may enjoy this same fellowship together with us. The fellowship I continually enjoy is with the Father and with His Son, Christ Jesus. I am writing these things so that you also may fully share together with me in this fullness of joy. It is our birth-right as a child of the Most High God!
Now this is eternal life: knowing You, Father, the One True Living God, and knowing Jesus Christ Your Son, the Messiah Whom You have sent. God Himself has given this testimony concerning His Son: I have granted you eternal life, and this life is given through union with My Divine Son Jesus. Whoever is joined together with My Son in a living union of oneness possesses that life; whoever is not joined together with My Son in a living union of oneness does not possess that life.
I have written this to you so that you who place your trust in Christ My Son will know, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that you do now indeed have eternal life.
Listen to what God Himself has said, clearly and beyond the shadow of any doubt: I have granted you eternal life; it’s a free gift. If you are joined together with My Son in a living union of oneness…by giving yourself to become the spiritual bride of Christ and thereby being born again…you possess eternal life; it is a guaranteed certainty. If you are not joined together with My Son as the spiritual bride of Christ, you do not possess eternal life; that is a guaranteed certainty as well.
The gift of eternal life is a free gift; Heaven is a free gift. It is not dependent on merit; it need not, and can not, be earned. The free gift of eternal life is not an object, a thought, a theological concept, or a prayer. The gift is a Person…Jesus the Christ.
The Free gift of eternal life is an unconditional right offered to every soul to freely choose to receive as their own. To all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God…children born of God! All of the various other opinions that embrace an eternal existence in either Heaven or Hell are dependent on merit. The opinion of the belief system based on the Bible is the sole exception…your eternal destiny is dependent simply upon exercising your right to choose to accept the free gift of eternal life in Heaven offered to everyone. It is as simple as that.
If you were to die tonight, do you know where you will be for all eternity? You can choose your eternal destiny right now and know at this moment, for sure, beyond the shadow of any doubt, in which neighborhood you will be after death.
There are only 3 choices when someone offers you a gift:
- You can refuse to take it; reject it
- You can ignore it
- You can accept it and receive it.
God can be likened to the Captain of a ship coming to rescue you. If you are out there in the middle of the ocean, shipwrecked, clinging to a piece of wood trying to survive the wind and the waves threatening to engulf you, nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see…you know beyond the shadow of any doubt there is no hope for you unless someone comes to your rescue. Then off in the distance you see a speck on the horizon, coming toward you, and you see that it is a ship. As you frantically wave your arm that they would see you, hope wells up in you as you realize they do see you! As the ship pulls near you, the Captain of the ship…God Himself…throws a life preserver to you. But you ignore the life preserver and push it away, as you continue to thrash about in the water. So God the Captain reels in the life preserver and throws it out again to you. Again, you ignore it and push it away. The Captain keeps on reeling it in and casting it back out to you, but you keep on refusing to take hold of it… until finally, you sink into the waters of the ocean and drown. That life preserver is Jesus the Christ. If you drown, was it the Captain who caused you to drown? No…He was trying to save you! And if you sink down into Hell, was it the Captain who sent you there? No…He was trying to save you, but you wouldn’t have it…you refused to take hold of the life preserver Jesus the Christ!
Beloved…if you have never been born again,
or you are not sure whether you have been born again,
or you have been living your life as a lukewarm Christian and would now like to recommit your life and enter into a deep and intimate relationship with Christ Jesus in preparation for the soon coming marriage supper of the Lamb…
then I counsel you to get alone with God, read the solemn marriage vows you must make to become the spiritual bride of Christ and thereby be born-again, and with sincerity of heart from within the depths of your being, acknowledge before God, “I DO.”
MARRIAGE VOWS
SPIRITUAL BRIDE OF CHRIST
Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Divine Son in the Triune God, the Lamb of God Who came into this world to become the One only, all-sufficient, atoning sacrifice through His death on a cross and subsequent resurrection, thereby securing forgiveness for your sins and restoring your relationship with God that had been severed by sin?
Do you now solemnly vow before God to give yourself to be the bride of Christ, receiving Jesus the Christ into your life in a spiritual marriage, promising to honor and obey Him as both Lord over your life and Savior of your soul?
To be joined inseparably together with Him in a Sacred Covenant relationship…an eternal living union of oneness through the new life to be conceived in you by the Holy Spirit…
To have and to hold Him, above all others and above all else this world has to offer, as the choicest, most precious treasure of your heart…
To love and to cherish Him, above all others and above all else this world has to offer, reserving for Him alone your sweetest, most tender affections…
For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of your life, until death of this body brings you to be together with Him in Heaven for all eternity?
My friends, may the Eternal Lord bless you and keep you in His watchful care; may the Lord make His Face to shine upon you and pour out His loving-kindness and mercy upon you; may the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace and a tranquil heart.
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